Evaluation

Bathory from 283goswell on Vimeo.


1. The conventional thriller opening creates atmosphere with quick cuts, tense music (most commonly string instruments as the high pitch squeal catches your attention and puts you on edge, and the low pitch sounds can be used to create sound effects, like a thumping heart beat), lighting (such as creating shadows, and casting the ‘bad’ guy in a dark light, letting the viewer know his position as the villain in the film), and camera angles (having high angle shots can make a person seem like the innocent, almost pathetic victim, for example, if seen from the point-of-view of the villain).

Look how lighting and shadows are used in these thriller posters to create atmosphere










Our thriller is conventional in the way that we took inspiration from other thrillers, such as Se7en and Arlington Road, yet these thrillers themselves have a rare style in their opening sequences – Se7en uses mainly close ups, and Arlington Road is built on effects; thus producing not only a creative opening sequence, but the audience becomes intrigued, wondering what the effects symbolise, and why the close ups are used. Close ups conceal parts of the mise-en-scene – you see an eye, and not the whole face, for example – and this instantly makes the audience wonder what is being hidden and why. Small details also make for more interesting viewing, as you are focused on one particular object or point, and are not interrupted by other things in the background. Also, conventional mid-long and long shots signal a conventional narrative – which our thriller is not. We have put the two styles of these films together for most of our thriller opening, therefore challenging the convention of real media thrillers. So, in effect – we have both challenged and complied with the conventions of a media thriller.



(Youtube – Arlington Road opening sequence)



(Youtube – Se7en opening sequence)

We tried to replicate most of the effects used in Arlington Road, such as the use of negative light and the black and white effect. This helped portray our message of an unconventional church yard, as the effects used on all outside shots, such as gravestones and trees, show that, although these are normal, every day images, something strange is happening – in our case, they are being used in the séance.


(Top: Arlington Road Black and White Screenshot
Bottom: Bathory Black and White Screenshot)




(Top: Arlington Road Panning Shot
Bottom: Bathory Panning Shot)







(Top: Arlington Road Negative Black and White Effect Tree
Bottom: Bathory Negative Black and White Effect Tree)







The music we used could be classed as conventional, as we have the strings (low strings in the very opening to create tension, and the high strings that appear further on, slowly increasing in volume, to build up pace and suspense), random pieces of music, such as the clinking in the very beginning, which all add to the strangeness of the piece. Our music also slowly builds up pace as the video progresses, leading up to the climactic crash of drums, and increasing the suspense in the viewers as they wait for something to happen.


In the opening of ‘Se7en’ you see the character turning pages in a book as he researches something. We have used intertextuality and recreated this within our own thriller – our character turns pages in her scrapbook whilst researching how to perform the summoning ceremony.

We used a lot of handheld camera shots to create a shaky, tense atmosphere – it gave the thriller a more lifelike feel, as if you were actually there, watching her through your own eyes. It also helped to set the scene, portraying the disillusioned events that are being played out.


Arlington Road – montage of images and scary/thrilling music

The props we used were thoroughly researched, according to what is common in thriller films. We realised that many thrillers portray storylines through the use of words – newspapers, journals, dictionaries, etc. We took this idea, and helped shape our storyline through the girl’s journal/spell book – we had the 9 satanic statements written, with certain key words highlighted, underlined or bolded, to let the viewer know a bit of her personality and her purpose. Voodoo dolls are also a common symbol of Satanism, Goth and Black Magic, so we included it as one of our main symbols.

Here's pictures of all of the props we used:

















































2. We have one character in the opening of our thriller – a white teenage girl. She dresses in corsets with pale skin and heavy makeup – the stereotypical ‘Goth’ girl. It was never our intention initially to make her gothic – but, as she was performing the summoning ceremony, and researching up on the devil, it just seemed appropriate for her to look the way she does – after all, the stereotypical Goth style is meant to be scary, dark, and rebel against the norms. The girl is not actually a Satanist, she is just researching satanic rituals and other ways to summon the Demon – she is more like a girl obsessed with Elizabeth Bathory, intent on recreating her famous torture with the help of the devil. However, when most people think of demons and séances, they automatically think of dark hair, pale skin, and gothic people. Most people do not know the difference between Goths, Satanists, Emos etc. so we created our main character in the stereotypical image that would come to mind in most people when they hear the word “Goth.”



Makeup








We got this wig to give the character the stereotypical long dark hair




The skirt that we originally planned for her to wear - however, due to the weather, jeans seemed the most sensible option



The Corset










3. Our thriller would be a Hollywood Blockbuster, distributed in cinemas around the globe, as the budget would need to be big – too big for a UK film. Many computer effects would be needed, as the deaths will not be just a big gory mess. She is a feminine killer who tortures her victims before death, and money will be needed not only for the expensive set and elaborate costumes, but also for the lighting and the effects needed to create such scenes. This would fit better with a Hollywood release as the large budget would need to be loaned from wealthy US companies willing to invest in us. We would be aiming for global viewings, as we feel that people all around the world would be interested in the story of Bathory, much like people all across the world are fascinated with the story of Jack the Ripper.


Possible Production Companies:




Lakeshore Entertainment





Screen Gems

(Both used to produce Arlington Road, which is promising as it is a similar film to ours)


Possible Distributors:




Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)

(A big, well known US distributor – also distributed Arlington Road, which is helpful as they are similar films)


4. The audience for our thriller would be anyone over the age of 15 who likes thriller movies. All genders (men seem to be more attracted to violence and murders than women, yet women might feel they’ll be able to relate to the leading character, as she too is female), all races, all nationalities, aged between 15 - 35 (the blood and the deaths would be inappropriate for anyone younger than 15, and anyone older than 35 would be less likely to be interested in such a film), all classes (although it would probably be most attractive to middle class people, as most actors in thriller films are middle class, not rich – teenage friends in a log cabin, for example - and they feel they might be able to identify with the character), and especially people who are interested in historical villains – this movie would be a dream for anyone interested in the story of Elizabeth Bathory, much like the many films made based on the story of Jack the Ripper (‘From Hell,’ for example). In fewer words: a mainstream person, with perhaps an interest in historical stories – or possibly someone that just likes a thrilling time. A typical person that would fit our target audience would be:
. Liam
. White
. 19
. Student
. Loves going to the cinema with friends
. Likes theme parks – especially roller coasters (thrill seeker)
. Part time job in Subway
. Parents divorced
. Lives at home with mum and little sister
. Tattoo on right arm (tribal symbol)
. Shops at Topman
. Single
Etc.



This is Liam

5. The main actress would be an unknown ‘star’ to make the story more believable and real to the audience, and so we would not be able to attract attention by promoting a big name. The main way we would attract our audience would be through advertising – commercials, bus adverts, and online advertisements on social network sites, such as Facebook, Bebo and Myspace etc. This is due to the fact that these are very day-to-day actions taken up by people of our target audience age group – they mostly all watch TV, ride buses, and nearly everyone has a Myspace or Facebook page nowadays. Our thriller would be very likely to be noticed by people of our target age group.




How it could look advertised on Myspace

Young people of our age group are always very interested when a new thriller film comes out, so I don't think it would take long for word to get around about Bathory. It is the type of film that is fun to see with friends, or perfect for taking someone there for a fist date (the whole cliche: Take your girlfriend to see a scary movie and get her to snuggle up to you when she gets frightened). Thriller films are always popular with teens and young adults.

6. Before this thriller I had barely used a video camera and never used Final Cut Pro, so all of this was a technological learning experience for me. As I was starring in the thriller, Nasima and Layla did most of the camerawork, although they always got my opinion on the angle and the mise-en-scene of every shot before they filmed it. The camera itself seemed quite easy to use though, once we mastered how to focus the shots and other small elements. As our film was made up of separate close up images, we didn’t really focus on creating match cuts, so using Final Cut Pro and piecing the thriller together was more a case of selecting the right order for the clips to run in, rather than making it flow perfectly smooth. The jerky cuts were part of the style of our thriller. This made using Final Cut Pro easier, as most of our time was spend putting effects on our clips and layering them to create atmosphere, rather than playing out a story in sequence, having to time everything step perfectly. Final Cut Pro was still difficult to use at times, however, with the limited number of effects suitable for the mood of our thriller – we couldn’t have the titles spinning and bouncing around the screen, for example, so actually choosing effects that fit was difficult.




We used the internet for this project too – when we blogged, and also when we released the video on Vimeo, and possibly even Youtube later on – thus increasing the potential audience for our thriller.

As we blogged for our magazine coursework, I already had a lot of experience doing so. I blogged on the day of our media lessons and tried to include a lot of information about what we did that day, and what I hoped to achieve the next lesson. Using the internet is a good way to record your work, as, not only can it be accessible by others, but it also increases the chances of word of your video getting around – gaining popularity through word-of-mouth.




Bathory playing on Vimeo


7. I feel I have learnt so much from this thriller task, compared to when I first started. Before, I had barely used a camera, never used Final Cut Pro, and never realised just how hard it is to create a movie opening. Looking back at our Match-Cut exercise, I have learnt so much since then. Although hard at the time, making the thriller was so much harder, as, as well as being longer, it also required a lot more effort, with the added difficulties such as effects, planning, giving up free time, and just trying to piece everything together. The Match-Cut video was a simple idea, teaching us about how films and programs are shot, and how the cameramen make everything run smoothly by matching up character’s actions in different angles. Although we didn’t use match cuts in our final thriller, we still learnt more about how to film, which angles work the best, and how to engage your audience.



Our First Match-Cut Video

When making the Match-Cut video, we had an idea and just went along with it, and shot whatever we felt looked good at the time. However, when filming our thriller, we planned excessively, as I learnt that this is the best way to understand what you’re filming, and to make filming easier and run more smoothly. We had a clear idea of what we wanted to shoot as we made a storyboard, and, although during filming, we got inspiration and filmed a few more shots that were not included but worked well with the film, we managed to film every shot on our storyboard. It really helped, as we had a clearer idea of what we wanted our final product to look like, and it also saved us time, giving us longer to work on piecing the film together and editing. We also had to make a pitch in front of the class and a few teachers, which also helped in our planning. Due to this, as well as making the storyboard, we also thought more about props, music, lighting and setting. This helped piece together our final film, as we had all of the ingredients ready, and knew that we could turn our film into the same one that we had in our minds.














Storyboard




Brainstorming ideas for our pitch

Filming our thriller was actually easier than filming our Match-Cut video, as we just had separate clips that played after each other – there was no set order, and so no matching up of clips was required. However, this actually proved to be quite a big planning flaw, as we spent a lot of time trying to put the clips in an order that flowed smoothly, and showed the audience what we were actually trying to portray. Most of the shots are close ups of objects, or nature found in a local graveyard, and only a few feature actual human beings, so it was more a case of getting the right angle, and placing the objects in the right position and just filming those, then having to re-take a shot because the acting went wrong – as is what happened many times in the Match-Cut exercise, as Nasima and I kept laughing and felt uncomfortable. Saying that, we did have to re-take quite a few shots – especially the ones outside, such as me walking or kneeling on the ground, due to the wind making the camera shake, or, in one instance, a pigeon wandering in front of the camera. We learnt that it was better without much acting, as people are more likely to mess up than objects. Also, having a good mise-en-scene (which we produced with our objects) created a more powerful atmosphere, than if we had just filmed a girl’s face, for example.




Images such as the Pentagram stuck into the girl's notebook provide a more powerful mise-en-scene than if we had talked about what she was doing.

Editing was so much harder in the thriller compared to the Match-Cut exercise – as our Match-Cut featured hardly any editing at all. All we did was cut clips down and make them match up and flow smoothly. As our thriller had no set order, we had to spend ages trying to figure out an order for them to go in that worked – we had to decide if there were too many ‘indoor’ clips next to each other, did that clip look right following the clips before?, should we put that in there? Etc. This was a major planning flaw - we should have figured out the set order before we went to edit. Once we had got our order, we had to add effects to the ‘outdoor’ clips, which was very difficult. We had no effects in the Match-Cut exercise, so making the thriller was all new to us – at first we had no idea how to change the colours of a clip, what effects worked well and gave off the right mood, etc. It was a bit of a struggle. However, we soon figured out our way around Final Cut Pro, and also saw what effects worked well with our clips, such as solarising and negative colours.








Putting Effects on to Bathory

Putting the music into our thriller was a lot harder than I thought. We had to match up our music to the thriller and cut it down because it was too long. This was difficult, as it was hard to make the cuts in the music not seem obvious. I can really tell where they are, but we asked students and teachers to listen and they couldn’t tell there was anything wrong until we told them – and even then some couldn’t find where the cuts were. I like the actual music itself, and I think that the fast-pace beat fits with the rushed feel of our film. We had very very basic music in our Match-Cut video which we made ourselves, so most things music-based were a learning experience for me.

http://freeplaymusic.com/search/advanced_search_ext.php (Number 4 - Lair)




Class Feedback:

. You can tell that it was well thought out and well planned
. Good shots, use of props, music and effects
. People liked the shots of the candle and the eye
. Scary
. Matched music to shots
. Liked that it was thoroughly researched
. Brilliant sound
. Skill with editing
. Wonderful pace
. Not relying on narrative shots – create story with close-ups, which is well done
. A couple of people thought that there were too many effects and that it could sometimes take away from the good shots that we had. The rest though that our effects went well with the music and the meaning of the film.